Poor Ignaz Semmelweis - he figured it out years before Pasteur, but the medical establishment gave him such a hard time for contradicting the prevailing wisdom that he ended up having a nervous breakdown.

Smallpox innoculation has actually been practiced for a couple thousand years.

The earliest procedure used to prevent smallpox was inoculation (also known as variolation). Inoculation was possibly practiced in India as early as 1000 BC, and involved either nasal insufflation of powdered smallpox scabs, or scratching material from a smallpox lesion into the skin. However, the idea that inoculation originated in India has been challenged as few of the ancient Sanskrit medical texts described the process of inoculation. Accounts of inoculation against smallpox in China can be found as early as the late 10th century, and the procedure was widely practiced by the 16th century, during the Ming Dynasty. If successful, inoculation produced lasting immunity to smallpox. However, because the person was infected with variola virus, a severe infection could result, and the person could transmit smallpox to others. Variolation had a 0.5–2% mortality rate, considerably less than the 20–30% mortality rate of the disease itself.

That I can travel to any city from any city on the planet in a matter of no more than 15-20 hours and that I can get literally anywhere with a few more hours travel time. If money was no object, I could get there even faster as well, perhaps as quickly as 4-5 hours at most.

One day, there will be a device that allows you not just to talk to people in different countries, but see them and talk to them as though they are sitting at the table across from you. But there's more! This device fits in the palm of your hand, comes in different colors, and varieties and people will just throw them away like nothing when the newer version appears.

Even though politicians aren't legally allowed to accept bribes, the biggest American corporations still control Congress (at least to a large degree) and steer the democratic process towards protecting their own interests.

Agreed. The idea is that even though paying politicians to enact certain legislation is illegal by the books, it's still extremely widespread and exerts a huge influence on our political system behind closed doors.